Faith and Philosophy

published on October 2, 2015

Rationality and Human Value
An Aristotelian Response to Robert Adams

Human beings are typically regarded as having more value than sheep; they are said to bear the image of God or have unique value and dignity. But to specify what grounds this unique value proves quite difficult. Robert Adams argues that a traditional account that grounds this value in rationality will not do, since it cannot satisfy a number of desiderata. But I develop a broadly Aristotelian account of rationality and show that it can indeed account for the rich phenomena Adams points us towards. Moreover, unlike Adams’s “complex package” view, my view is able to provide a unified explanation for why these phenomena manifest human beings’ unique value.